I was surprised to see this message on the back of the FA cup semi final ticket for that dreadful day in April 1989 in Sheffield
Is this just a case of people buying in bulk and then selling on or does it refer to genuine 'pirate' issues in which case I have never seen anything
Thanks for any info...

At this time I was still in the programme shop at Blundell Park, and like many other such outlets we were conacted by the FA wanting to know if we would like to pre order for the game. In the event we didn't.

I think the notice you have is "in case" of pirate sellers. Have never seen any unofficial programmes for the game either.

I have many West Ham pirates but none at all between the 1975 FA Cup semi final v Ipswich and a European game in Bucharest in 1999.

Apart from that recent case in the news around the FA Cup Final last year (I think) I can't recall seeing any pirates sold outside grounds in the UK (plenty of internet knock offs naturally and for European games)

That seems to make it unlikely that SWFC would be warning against pirates - more likely there had been issues with people buying official programmes in bulk and then selling them above face value to supporters on the way in to the ground at previous semi finals

This did go on I believe - I even had it happen at 85/6 Everton v West Ham - the official sellers in the ground (!) were refusing to give you change - trying to knock out 50p programmes for a quid - the cheek!